Can someone refresh my memory on the rules of grave dancing?

[Philosoraptor]

Grave dancing is a metaphor, not an actual practice. I have never seen anyone grave dancing, and I have never actually danced on a grave. I'm a lousy dancer anyway, and prone to klutziness, dancing on a grave seems sort of dangerous, particularly if it's a fresh one.

I guess grave dancing is a funny way of saying that you've said something less than respectful about the recently demised. Apparently there are many in our highly evolved society that frown upon anything negative being said about the newly deceased, deserved or not. The same etiquette applies for humor aimed at the freshly planted, some people still get offended at Lincoln jokes, cause it's just a little too soon.

How long should one wait after the obituaries to boogie down on the final resting place? What type of dance is appropriate? Would a waltz work, is a cake walk workable? A moon walk? A conga line might be fun in the light of the full moon.

Has anyone ever tripped the light fantastic on Adolph Hitler's grave? Does he even have one to dance on? What about Napoleon, has anyone ever been sighted doing a ballet on his tomb?

A hardwood dance floor is best for dancing in my opinion, far superior a surface for Terpsichore than any lowly grave, no matter who is interred therein.

The whole concept of grave dancing is just bizarre, what does the dancer gain, and what does the deceased get from it?

If some celebrity passes away, some will sing his or her praises, and some will get out their metaphorical dancing shoes, and if you are a grave dancer by nature, you haven't done any actual harm to anyone, you just broke the Emily Post rules of etiquette surrounding the recently croaked, and shame, shame upon you.

[MrModerate]

1. I'm not really sure . . . I'm more of a grave pisser . . .

And I've got a little list.

[Iris]

8. That seems less risky than dancing on a grave! n/t

[Solly Mack]

2. I'm sure pirouettes are involved

[dbt]

3. You always begin with the Funky Worm,

just for the metaphoric and literary value. Naturally, the ultimate routine will vary depending on who lies beneath the sod. For instance, if the corpse is of the breadth, heft and odiferousness of say, a Rush Limbaugh, you may well want to forego the solo display and call on half a dozen Irish Girls in costume to turn out and put the Celtic stompdown on any loose clods which might remain. The best musical accompaniment for this form of grave dancing is The Pogues. Something like:

Fuck everything, shut up and drink.
I don't wanna hear your shit tonight
And I don't wanna think.

If, God Forbid, Lou Dobbs should shuffle off his mortal coil, the thing to do would be to smuggle a Flamenco ensemble across the border--preferably in broad daylight beneath the watchful gaze of the Minutemen--and have them perform two shows a day (three on Sunday).

As you have undoubtedly gleaned from reading DU of late, grave dancing is an evolving art form, with much impassioned discussion and dissent surrounding its proper expression. One school of thought holds that the dancer(s) should always be accompanied by a Greek Chorus whose sole purpose is to yell "You can't do that!" while the perpetrator busts his/her best moves in an energetic quest to touch the face of the very Muse.

Naturally, this all hinges on how fresh the piss is. If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to meet me at the pub for discussion, enlightenment, improvisation and clouds of smoke.

Very Truly Yours,
etc etc

[Philosoraptor]

13. I'd like to do a beer fueled break dance on phred phelp's final rest room.

and I'd like to hire Latoya Jackson's complete line of back up dancers.

[madrchsod]

4. grave dancing and beating a dead horse

which one is worse?

[KG]

5. never done no grave dancing,

I just tell the truth about a dead person, and their worshipful minions think it's grave dancing

[Justpat]

6. You bring up a good point about the waiting period.

The Quakers, who are not good dancers anyway, usually plant the deceased Friend within
24 hours of departing. Then they hold a memorial service about a month after the person
expires. I think by that time the grass on top of the grave might have started to grow
enough to support at least a Fox trot - George Fox being the founder of The Religious Society
of Friends. This seems a dignified and acceptable form of grave dancing for these restrained
folks.

About the question of what the dancer gains,I guess you would have to ask the pros. Just
leave this post up long enough and the dancers will fly out of the woodwork to tell you
of the physical and spiritual benefits of grave dancing. As a cardiovascular exercise, I think
grave dancing will never gain much support from the general masses as they might get quickly
exhausted due to the extreme frequency with which our fellow citizens of all ranks in life
make their final bow and hit the sod. They would sort of dance themselves to death. A fitting
way to take their leave, I guess.

[Rosemary2205]

17. That's interesting about the Quakers.

A close friend of mine is donating her body to science when she is done using it - which unfortunately might be any day now. The university will creamate her anonymously when they can no longer use her remains so there will never be anything to plant. My friend has requested we all take a few weeks to feel bad over losing her then come together for a big party, invite every single person who knew her, hire a band or DJ, bring in the caterer etc etc, and dance the night away in her honor. She's paying and anyone who comes will be required to do at least one dance of some sort in her honor. (She loved dancing of all sorts and made her living at it)

[ColbertWatcher]

7. Pants. When grave dancing, always wear pants. n/t

[Carnea]

9. It's just a jump to the left.

And then a step to the right.
With your hands on your hips.
You bring your knees in tight.
But it's the pelvic thrust
That really drives you insane.
Lets do the Grave dance again.

[ColbertWatcher]

26. Winner!

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. Is live music necessary

or can we just hire a DJ? ;)

[Justpat]

27. I think a boombox on top of a headstone is tasteless.

So I would go for an iPod at reasonable volume.

The live music just might, well, wake the dead.

[H2O Man]

11. Hokey Pokey

" A song rendered ("with appropriate gestures") by two Canterbury sisters while on a visit to Bridgewater, N.H. in 1857 starts thus:

I put my right hand in,
I put my right hand out,
I give my right hand a shake, shake shake
And I turn myself about.
As the song continues, the "left hand" is put in, then the "right foot," then the "left foot," then "my whole head."

...Newell gave it the title, "Right Elbow In," and said that is was danced " deliberately and decorously...with slow rhythmical motion."

[Rhiannon12866]

15. You must remember this one... Your post brought it to mind.

Hokey Pokey
With all the sadness and trauma going on in the world at the moment, it is
worth reflecting on the death of a very important person which almost went
unnoticed at the end of May. Larry La Prise, the man who wrote "The Hokey
Pokey", died peacefully at age 93. The most traumatic part for his family
was getting him into the coffin. They put his left leg in. Then the trouble
started...

[Echo In Light]

12. "Do you wanna par-ty...it's party time!"

[Rhiannon12866]

14. I agree. And I make it a point to never even step on graves, creeps me out,

And I'm usually visiting family. I already have a plot, if I want it...x(

[Rosemary2205]

16. I believe a final resting place is required before one can actually dance on it.

So I believe, out of physical necessity, one would be required to wait until after the dearly departed is actually in the ground before one can, you know, dance on their grave.

Metaphorically, if one needs to express joy over the demise of someone, then by all means go for it. Though one might be cautioned against laughing right smack in the faces of those in pain and mourning over the loss of their loved one. That does tend to invite being punched in the nose - so to speak.

[papapi]

18. Ghouls crawl up out of the earth to grave dance. . .

there's no other explanation.

[Dogtown]

23. No Problem

I have this:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/books/humor/7838/zoom/

So I can safely urinate on the ghouls, any cavorting zombies, and Timmy's dirtbunk, all at the same time!

[cherokeeprogressive]

19. Personally, I've never understood the need. n/t

[DearAbby]

20. At least long enough

to get a decent DISCO Ball in place....LONG LIVE DISCO!!!

[QueenOfCalifornia]

21. You put your

left foot in, you put your left foot out....
You do the hokie pokie, you turn yourself around...

THAT'S WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT!

[TexasObserver]

22. My understanding is it's OK to grave dance, as long as you beat the LOCK!

IBTL

Dancin'
Dancin'
DAN-CINNNNNNNNN'!!

[gkhouston]

24. I think we have to wait until the mourners take off their unrelieved

black and start wearing lilac and dove grey. :eyes:

[B.S. Lewis]

25. I don't care so much about respecting the dead...

...on a site like this where no one who knew the man will ever see it. Pissing on his grave in the highly public MSM might be a bit tacky unless he is someone like Pinochet or Bush.

However, it also seems a bit dumb to have a hate-fest, even on someone who you *have hated all along*, just because their death reminded you of their existence momentarily.

P.S. - I may contradict myself and involuntarily dance on the grave of anyone who's started a Russert or Russert spin-off thread. Just sayin'

[GreenPartyVoter]

28. When ** and his cronies go, I will not hesitate to samba all over their graves. Screw respect for

the dead and if anyone thinks less of me for it, too bad. It's no more than the junta and its enablers deserve.